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The Bay Area is in the midst of two separate winning streaks as the Golden State Warriors have won three straight and the Sacramento Kings have won two. Since the Kings have struggled most of the season while the Warriors are one of the best teams in the Western Conference, the Bay needs to celebrate this rare occurrence. The power rankings have taken notice.
NBA.com has the Warriors at No. 6 in their power rankings, pointing out the opportunity the Warriors have to end the Los Angeles Clippers' current win streak since they play the Clippers twice in nine days. With no other games for Golden State to face during that period, the Warriors have plenty of time for rest and preparation. The Clippers will be on the second night of back-to-backs both times.
ESPN has the Warriors in the No. 5 spot, as Golden State has held its last five opponents to less than 40 percent shooting while going 12-4 during the month of December. They are winning with defense, which isn't usually a trait of Warriors teams.
NBA.com has the Kings at No. 22, four spots up from last week. Even though Jimmer Fredette comes off the bench, he's played well with Isaiah Thomas, which has helped the Kings' recent play. They've won four of their last six.
ESPN moved the Kings up five spots to No. 21 and gave the team props for knocking off both the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics and for DeMarcus Cousins posting a triple-double against the Celtics for good measure.